In the second phase of the six-month trial of home-based care in Torrington, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust (Trust) and Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are planning to extend existing services and have launched new services to run from the community hospital.
The project entitled Torrington: meeting local needs, tests whether the home-based model of care can support the residents of Torrington to live independently in their own homes. For the remainder of the project – four months – the inpatient beds at Torrington community hospital will be closed to admissions.
Instead, the NHS is working with the local community to explore additional services that can be offered locally in Torrington. The following new services will be available in — 2014:
In place now:
- Midwife clinics for expectant mums five days a week.
- Family planning drop-in, open to all ages – you can self-refer. The clinic provides basic family planning advice but also helps with issues related to sexual health.
New for January 2014:
- Extended physiotherapy classes. By moving the physio balance and mobility classes from the old gym to the ward area, we are able to invite more patients as the space is larger.
- Infusion treatments to be provided three days a week. Infusion is a term used to describe an intravenous treatment, covering blood, antibiotics and steroids.
Coming soon:
- Leg ulcer clinic. Following on from the very successful Barnstaple clinic, we are planning a similar group to be based in the hospital one day a week.
We are also working up other ideas that the community has suggested. These include:
- Ultrasound clinic one day per week
- Cardiology clinics
- Increased chiropody
Chris Bowman, Vice Chair of the NEW Devon CCG Northern Locality, said, “Each one of these new services is saving a resident from Greater Torrington from making a trip to NDDH or is providing a service on more days, which makes it more convenient for people. We welcome feedback from the community about these services.
“Through the meetings with the public and patients, we feel we have a good understanding of the issues facing Torrington. Transport links, public transport, access to services, end-of-life care and the sources of funding to support social and healthcare are all issues the community has told us are important. We hope to be able to trial some services which address these issues.”
Rachel Hooper, Torridge Matron, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, said, “In the new year we will continue to launch new services provided in Torrington Community Hospital. They are based on the ideas people gave us through the workshops and regular meetings in the community. We are currently working up proposals on lots of other services such as chemotherapy, more clinics and opening up the use of the building to the voluntary sector.”